Most Worcester educators rated proficient under new grading system

The state released the first set of teacher, administrator and principal performance ratings for schools and districts Thursday, giving parents a look at what percent of teachers at their child's school are considered exemplary, proficient, needs improvement or unsatisfactory.

The release was only for the 213 districts that received federal Race to the Top dollars and that used the new evaluation system during the 2012-13 school year. All of the state's school districts will have to use the new system in the current school year (2013-14).

Not every teacher was evaluated in each Race to the Top district, but statewide, almost 62 percent of those in such districts were. In Worcester, 98 percent of teachers and principals were evaluated under the new system.

Statewide, 7.4 percent of educators were exemplary, 85.2 percent proficient, 6.8 percent needs improvement and 0.7 percent unsatisfactory. Administrators were the most likely to be rated proficient or exemplary, with 96.6 percent; principals were next with 95.9 percent; tenured teachers next with 94.8 percent; and non-tenured teachers last with 85.5 percent.

There were even wide variations across the state. Dawson Elementary School in Holden, for instance, had the highest percentage of educators rated exemplary, with 84 percent. It also has high test scores.

Patricia Scales, principal of Dawson, said, "I think that I have an outstanding staff, they are hard workers. They work early mornings, they are here late at night, they come in on the weekends. They team up together before and after school. A lot of what they do is working with administration in developing good, instructional strategies for kids. They do a phenomenal job."

The principal and/or assistant principals at Fitchburg's McKay Arts Academy, on the other hand, rated 10 percent of tenured teachers unsatisfactory, a high number compared to the 0.6 percent of tenured teachers rated unsatisfactory statewide and the 1.6 percent in Fitchburg as a whole. When asked about the McKay numbers, Fitchburg public schools Superintendent Andre Ravenelle said, "To be honest, we have to say this year was a learning experience for all of us… I really would hope that everyone takes a deep breath, and the public recognizes the collaborative effort to seriously implement this new evaluation system."

McKay's principal did not return a call for comment.

In Fitchburg, only half the teachers are evaluated each year.

Worcester's evaluations tracked closer to the state as a whole, but there was variation within the district. Norrback Avenue School had the highest percentage of educators rated exemplary, with 30 percent. Grafton Street School had the highest percentage of educators rated unsatisfactory, with 4.2 percent.

"I am pleased with the implementation of our new educational evaluation system thus far," Worcester Superintendent Melinda J. Boone said in a press release. "By working collaboratively with leadership of the Educational Association of Worcester, I feel that we have created a fair and responsive evaluation system."

Leonard Zalauskas, president of the EAW, said, "In the first year, I'm not sure how legitimate it is" and added that the evaluation system should grow stronger with time.

He noted that evaluations depend on the evaluator. "When you have human beings involved, there's always differences," he said.

He noted that Grafton Street School's principal was new last year, while Norrback's was long-serving.

The evaluations do not tie directly into Worcester teachers' pay but will influence transfer and promotions, said Human Resource manager Stacey DeBoise Luster. Their biggest use, however, is to improve teachers' skills. "That's really the purpose, more than anything, is just to give guidance to teachers how to alter instructional practices based upon the students in front of them," she said.

Starting in 2015-16, educator evaluations will include components of student performance including, when available, student growth percentiles derived from standardized test scores and other measures decided by districts.

That data will "be an important balance to the system" which now shows "wide variation" in evaluations across schools and districts, state Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Mitchell D. Chester said on a conference call with reporters.

"The fact that strong teaching matters and weak teaching disadvantages students has been well established," he said.

Paul Toner, president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, said in a press release, "These initial results confirm what we know — the vast majority of Massachusetts educators are very good at what they do. … As we continue to roll out this new system, people should not draw conclusions about relative school quality based on these results since professional judgment and local context will inevitably lead to some differences in how administrators apply the new ratings. The goal of evaluation is to help identify educators' strengths and weaknesses so we can improve teaching and learning in all schools."

The new data also breaks down the evaluation results according to whether the teachers have tenure (or professional status).